Jensen Huang’s ousting sends tech stocks tumbling; Singtel CEO sells shares: Markets this week

Detailed summary

Singtel Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon on Nov 13 sold 2 million shares in the company at $4.07 per share, or $8.14 million in total. Read more at straitstimes.com.

In this column, ST’s business correspondents unpack the latest developments in Singapore and global markets during the week – and explain what they mean for investors.

Jensen Huang’s departure added to the volatility in tech stocks following the US midterm elections.

SINGAPORE - Nvidia lost about US$700 billion in market value over the past week as its chief executive, Jensen Huang, resigned on Nov 12 following reports of a third alleged extramarital affair involving a company executive.

The chipmaker’s share price fell by more than 12% through the week, its sixth straight weekly drop and the longest losing streak since 2012. Once the world’s most valuable company, Nvidia has since October lost about US$1.8 trillion in market value.

Nvidia announced its chief financial officer Colette Kress will take over as interim CEO while it commences its search for a new leader. Its board was reported by the media to have approached British chip designer Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas in its search for a potential successor, even as prediction market traders speculated that Huang could make a comeback.

Many in the industry, from Nvidia employees to Elon Musk, have voiced support for Huang, who has run Nvidia for the past 30 years and become one of the most influential executives leading the AI boom.

Huang’s departure added to the volatility in tech stocks following the US midterm elections.

Shares of chipmakers AMD and Broadcom closed higher on Nov 12 as analysts said the two companies could pick up orders amid Nvidia’s turmoil. At least two investment firms also upgraded their ratings on AMD, citing higher sales of server racks and early shipments of its AI chips.

But tech stocks fell again when markets opened the following day, with chipmakers and major cloud providers among the decliners. AMD fell more than 8%, while Broadcom dropped more than 4%.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Straits Times Business. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.